Muslim regiments: crescent or others
91-526: Sikh regiments: Khanda or plain banners The Sikh Khalsa Army ( Punjabi : ਸਿੱਖ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਫੌਜ , romanized: Sikha khālasā phauja ), also known as Khalsaji or simply Sikh Army , was the military force of the Sikh Empire . With its roots in the Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh , the army was later modernised on Franco-British principles by Maharaja Ranjit Singh . It was divided in three wings:
182-471: A General . In 1838-39, the strength of the Sikh artillery was 182 heavy cannons , 20 howitzers , and 60 light cannons. It had at least 5,000 gunners. The Fauj-i-Khas was the elite wing of the army. It was strictly trained under French pattern and had a separate emblem and flag. It consisted of four infantry battalions, two cavalry regiments and one artillery troop. Its weapons and equipment (including clothing)
273-464: A Nihang will also bear one or two swords (either the curved talwar or the straight khanda , or another type of sword like saif or sarohi on his right hip), a katar (dagger) on his left hip, a buckler made from buffalo-hide ( dhal ) on his back, a large chakram around his neck, and an iron chain. In times of war, arms worn on the Nihang's person would generally be reserved until the warrior lost
364-443: A cavalry parade. "I never beheld," he wrote of a troop of Ghorcharhas, "a finer nor a more remarkably striking body of men. Each one was dressed differently, and yet so much in the same fashion that they all looked in perfect keeping."< The Fauj-i-Kilajat was the army defending the forts and also acting as police. Each fort had 50 to 250 of these men and their officer was called Killedar or Thanedar. They were mainly Muslims and wore
455-403: A few years. Maharaja Ranjit Singh divided his artillery into four categories: The artillery was divided into batteries or deras. Each battery consisted of 10 guns and 250 gunners. Each battery was under a commandant . The batteries were further divided into sections . Each section compromised 2 guns and 8 to 10 gunners. Each section was under a Jamadar. The entire artillery was under
546-730: A higher military rank was based on military skill, not hereditary background, so the Sikh Khalsa Army was a classic meritocracy . Enlistment in the army was entirely voluntary, and only strong, physically fit men were recruited. The task of recruiting officers was in the hands of the Generals or the Maharaja himself. Every year, a lot of money was spent on presents and honours for the soldiers who had displayed gallantry. Titles like "Fateh-o Nusrat Nasib", "Zafar Jhang" and "Bright Star of Punjab" were given to many Generals. For disloyalty
637-589: A liberal approach. Through Persian, Punjabi also absorbed many Arabic-derived words like dukān , ġazal and more, as well as Turkic words like qēncī , sōġāt , etc. After the fall of the Sikh empire , Urdu was made the official language of Punjab under the British (in Pakistani Punjab , it is still the primary official language) and influenced the language as well. In the second millennium , Punjabi
728-537: A red stripe, and crimson turbans. Woollen jackets were used during winter. They all instead of the traditional weapons carried only a three foot kirpan and a lance. The regiments were armed with varying combinations of weapons, including swords/sabres, carbines , matchlocks, and lances. One of the most unique regiments of the Sikh Khalsa Army was the Shutersawaar or the cannon mounted war camel used by Hari Singh Nalwa in his conquest of Peshawar . The Shutersawaar
819-634: A ruby ring on the middle finger. Sikhs formed the bulk of the Sikh Empire's army. The Sikh Army was mainly Punjabi with a predominantly Sikh cadre, but also had a significant multi-religious component made up from other parts of the Punjabi people . There were soldiers of different religious backgrounds (i.e. Muslims and Hindus) and there were soldiers of different tribal backgrounds: Pashtuns , Dogras , Khatris , Jats , Kashyap Rajputs , Ramgarhias , Nepalis and European mercenaries . A promotion to
910-572: A separate drum and banner. Descend from lineage of Bidhi Chand , a contemporary warrior and companion of the Sikh Gurus. Prominent amongst Mazhabi Sikhs . The latter two groups being much less prominent than the former two. Each Dal consists of both a mobile and stationary group. The mobile group of the Budha Dal, for example, is the Dalpanth . There has been incidents of conflict in
1001-487: A soldier could be imprisoned or exiled. Usually, the soldiers were granted two months of leave, either in the winter season or before it. When soldiers were required, leaves were cancelled and they were granted leave at the end of the campaign. The pay of the Sikh Khalsa Army was higher than the pay of the British East India Company and other Asian armies. The Nishan Sahib Sikh flag flew throughout
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#17327656004131092-680: A traditional white turban with a sky blue overcoat and a yellow kurta. Some small Misldars still kept their lands but under the Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. One famous Misldar is Fateh Singh Ahluwalia who fought against the Afghan forces and did not agree to the Dogra supremacy. Akali Nihangs were not sustained under the Sikh Khalsa army. They were and are a religious army and follow their Jathedar as their emperor. These jathedars have evolved into
1183-706: A word will be pronounced, and vice versa. Tone is often reduced or rarely deleted when words are said with emphasis or on their own as a form of more exact identification. Sequences with the consonant h have some additional gimmicks: The consonant h on its own is now silent or very weakly pronounced except word-initially. However, certain dialects which exert stronger tone, particularly more northern Punjabi varieties and Dogri , pronounce h as very faint (thus tonal) in all cases. E.g. hatth > àtth . The Jhangvi and Shahpuri dialects of Punjabi (as they transition into Saraiki ) show comparatively less realisation of tone than other Punjabi varieties, and do not induce
1274-482: Is a tendency with speakers to insert /ɪ̯/ between adjacent "a"-vowels as a separator. This usually changes to /ʊ̯/ if either vowel is nasalised. Note: for the tonal stops, refer to the next section about Tone. The three retroflex consonants /ɳ, ɽ, ɭ/ do not occur initially, and the nasals [ŋ, ɲ] most commonly occur as allophones of /n/ in clusters with velars and palatals (there are few exceptions). The well-established phoneme /ʃ/ may be realised allophonically as
1365-436: Is always written as نگ . Like Hindustani , the diphthongs /əɪ/ and /əʊ/ have mostly disappeared, but are still retained in some dialects. Phonotactically , long vowels /aː, iː, uː/ are treated as doubles of their short vowel counterparts /ə, ɪ, ʊ/ rather than separate phonemes. Hence, diphthongs like ai and au get monophthongised into /eː/ and /oː/, and āi and āu into /ɛː/ and /ɔː/ respectively. The phoneme /j/
1456-590: Is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India . It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world with approximately 150 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 88.9 million native speakers according to the 2023 Pakistani census , and the 11th most widely-spoken in India, with 31.1 million native speakers, according to
1547-535: Is an armed Sikh warrior order originating in the Indian subcontinent . Nihangs are believed to have originated either from Fateh Singh and the attire he wore or from the " Akal Sena " (lit. Army of the Immortal) started by Guru Hargobind . Early Sikh military history was dominated by the Nihang, known for their victories where they were heavily outnumbered. Traditionally known for their bravery and ruthlessness in
1638-481: Is forbidden in Sikhism. In 2001, Jathedar (leader) Santa Singh , the leader of Budha Dal, along with 20 chiefs of Nihang sects, refused to accept the ban on consumption of shaheedi degh by the apex Sikh clergy - in order to preserve traditional Sikh practices. According to a recent BBC article, "Traditionally they also drank shaheedi degh, an infusion of cannabis, to become closer with God" The Nihangs carry
1729-570: Is identical to the Urdu alphabet , however various attempts have been made to create certain, distinct characters from a modification of the Persian Nastaʿlīq characters to represent Punjabi phonology , not already found in the Urdu alphabet . In Pakistan, Punjabi loans technical words from Persian and Arabic , just like Urdu does. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan ,
1820-543: Is no evidence they partook in any actual fighting. They performed martial dances with swords for visiting foreign dignitaries. Whilst dancing, they wore men's clothing. Their dances symbolized the martial glory of the Sikh Empire and its sovereignty. The earliest surviving mention of the amazonian corps is from 12 March 1831: ...A royal order was issued to all the dancing girls in the town of Lahore to put on male garments, hold swords and bows in their hands and be decorated with other arms as well and then to present themselves at
1911-455: Is termed 'Old Punjabi', whilst the stage between the 16th and 19th centuries is termed as 'Medieval Punjabi'. The Arabic and Modern Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent . Since then, many Persian words have been incorporated into Punjabi (such as zamīn , śahir etc.) and are used with
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#17327656004132002-507: Is very fluid in Punjabi. /j/ is only truly pronounced word-initially (even then it often becomes /d͡ʒ/), where it is otherwise /ɪ/ or /i/. Unusually for an Indo-Aryan language, Punjabi distinguishes lexical tones . Three tones are distinguished in Punjabi (some sources have described these as tone contours, given in parentheses): low (high-falling), high (low-rising), and level (neutral or middle). The transcriptions and tone annotations in
2093-629: Is widely used in the TV and entertainment industry of Pakistan, which is mainly produced in Lahore . The Standard Punjabi used in India and Pakistan have slight differences. In India, it discludes many of the dialect-specific features of Majhi. In Pakistan, the standard is closer to the Majhi spoken in the urban parts of Lahore. "Eastern Punjabi" refers to the varieties of Punjabi spoken in Pakistani Punjab (specifically Northern Punjabi), most of Indian Punjab ,
2184-684: The varna system is not limited to ones heritage. The Nihang sect equally reveres the Guru Granth Sahib , Dasam Granth , and Sarbloh Granth . They attribute the later two works to Guru Gobind Singh. They consider the Dasam Granth and the Sarbloh Granth as extensions of the Guru Granth Sahib. As such, they refer to these scriptures as Sri Dasam Guru Granth Sahib , and Sri Sarbloh Guru Granth Sahib . They call
2275-926: The 2011 census . It is spoken among a significant overseas diaspora , particularly in Canada , the United Kingdom , the United States , Australia , and the Gulf states . In Pakistan, Punjabi is written using the Shahmukhi alphabet , based on the Perso-Arabic script ; in India, it is written using the Gurmukhi alphabet , based on the Indic scripts . Punjabi is unusual among the Indo-Aryan languages and
2366-703: The British Indian Army , where they served with distinction in numerous battles and wars under the British Crown . Ranjit Singh encircled himself with an array of generals and soldiers. They were men from different clans, castes and regions. Some of the ranks come from English, like adjudan (adjutant), kalnal (colonel), jarnail (general) Among some of the most important and illustrious names include: Among his European Mercenary Generals were: Punjabi language Europe North America Oceania Punjabi , sometimes spelled Panjabi ,
2457-507: The Fauj-i-Khas (elites), Fauj-i-Ain (regular force) and Fauj-i-Be Qawaid (irregulars). Due to the lifelong efforts of the Maharaja and his European officers, it gradually became a prominent fighting force of Asia. Ranjit Singh changed and improved the training and organisation of his army. He reorganized responsibility and set performance standards in logistical efficiency in troop deployment, manoeuvre , and marksmanship . He reformed
2548-465: The Hazara region , most of Azad Kashmir and small parts of Indian Punjab such as Fazilka . These include groups of dialects like Saraiki , Pahari-Pothwari , Hindko and the extinct Inku ; common dialects like Jhangvi , Shahpuri , Dhanni and Thali which are usually grouped under the term Jatki Punjabi; and the mixed variety of Punjabi and Sindhi called Khetrani . Depending on context,
2639-758: The Majha region of the Punjab. In India , Punjabi is written in the Gurmukhī script in offices, schools, and media. Gurmukhi is the official standard script for Punjabi, though it is often unofficially written in the Latin scripts due to influence from English , one of India's two primary official languages at the Union -level. In Pakistan, Punjabi is generally written using the Shahmukhī script, which in literary standards,
2730-482: The Mughal Governor of Sirhind , several edged bracelets of iron round on each of their wrists ( jangi kara ) and quoits of steel ( chakram ) tiered in their lofty conical blue turbans, together with the either a dori kirpan (an open blade kirpan that is worn with a rope attached and was meant to be used as a quick access weapon) or a pesh kabaz - a predecessor to the modern kirpan . When fully armed
2821-462: The Nath Yogi -era from 9th to 14th century. The language of these compositions is morphologically closer to Shauraseni Apbhramsa , though vocabulary and rhythm is surcharged with extreme colloquialism and folklore. Writing in 1317–1318, Amir Khusrau referred to the language spoken by locals around the area of Lahore as Lahauri . The precursor stage of Punjabi between the 10th and 16th centuries
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2912-413: The h consonant itself and any voiced consonants appended with [h] (Gurmukhi: ੍ਹ "perī̃ hāhā" , Shahmukhi: ھ "dō-caśmī hē" ); usually ṛh , mh , nh , rh and lh . The five tonal plosives also become voiceless word-initially. E.g. ghar > kàr "house", ḍhōl > ṭṑl "drum" etc. Tonogenesis in Punjabi forfeits the sound of [h] for tone. Thus, the more [h] is realised, the less "tonal"
3003-601: The kirpan , and the tir (arrow). There are four main factions amongst the Nihangs of the modern-era, them namely being: Originally created for older members (over 40) by splitting the Dal Khalsa into two. Their headquarters are located in Raqba . Originally created for younger members (under 40) by splitting the Dal Khalsa into two. The Taruna Dal was further divided in five jathas , each with 1300 to 2000 men and
3094-503: The voiceless retroflex fricative [ʂ] in learned clusters with retroflexes. Due to its foreign origin, it is often also realised as [s] , in e.g. shalwār /salᵊ.ʋaːɾᵊ/ . The phonemic status of the consonants /f, z, x, ɣ, q/ varies with familiarity with Hindustani norms, more so with the Gurmukhi script, with the pairs /f, pʰ/ , /z, d͡ʒ/ , /x, kʰ/ , /ɣ, g/ , and /q, k/ systematically distinguished in educated speech, /q/ being
3185-726: The 1981 and 2017 censuses respectively, speakers of the Western Punjabi 's Saraiki and Hindko varieties were no longer included in the total numbers for Punjabi, which explains the apparent decrease. Pothwari speakers however are included in the total numbers for Punjabi. Punjabi is the official language of the Indian state of Punjab , and has the status of an additional official language in Haryana and Delhi. Some of its major urban centres in northern India are Amritsar , Ludhiana , Chandigarh , Jalandhar , Ambala , Patiala , Bathinda , Hoshiarpur , Firozpur and Delhi . In
3276-475: The 19th century from the Medieval Punjabi stage. Modern Punjabi has two main varieties, Western Punjabi and Eastern Punjabi , which have many dialects and forms, altogether spoken by over 150 million people. The Majhi dialect , which is transitional between the two main varieties, has been adopted as standard Punjabi in India and Pakistan for education and mass media. The Majhi dialect originated in
3367-684: The 2011 census of India, 31.14 million reported their language as Punjabi. The census publications group this with speakers of related "mother tongues" like Bagri and Bhateali to arrive at the figure of 33.12 million. Punjabi is also spoken as a minority language in several other countries where Punjabi people have emigrated in large numbers, such as the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada. There were 670,000 native Punjabi speakers in Canada in 2021, 300,000 in
3458-561: The Akali with that of crocodiles . The meaning of Akali in Sikhism however, is the immortal army of Akal (God). According to Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech, there exists three main theories regarding the genesis of the Nihangs . These three theories are summarized below: Traditional Nihang dress is known as Khalsa Swarupa . This comprises full attire of navy blue selected by Guru Gobind Singh after conflicts with Wazir Khan ,
3549-633: The Back of the army as they had the tallest turban and held the Nishan Sahib. They were known as the troops of Baba Fateh Singh which inspired the war-cry Fateh Singh Ke Jathe Singh . The Dumala-Wala Nihangs wore a shorter turban with three to four chakrams and a small pharla from it. In the turban lied three to four short Khandas. On the Nihangs back has to be a Dhal with a Vadda Chakram below and on
3640-651: The British, which allowed them to win several crucial battles. This led to the defeat of the Khalsa and the British signed the Treaty of Lahore , ending the war in a Sikh defeat. The treaty stipulated that the Sikh Empire was to pay a significant amount of reparations to the East India Company, and Jind Kaur , the Sikh regent, was imprisoned and later exiled. The Sikh Army was reduced to 20,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. The disbanded soldiers were also furious with
3731-410: The Budha Dal and ate meat. The Nihangs who hunted boars and deer kept the trophies as 'Soor Das' (Boar's Tooth) and 'Barha Singha' (Deer Horns). The Nihang Bana started with a navy or surmayee blue four foot tall Dastar Bunga with many chakrams in ascending order and a Gajgah. On the top of the turban lied a metre and a half long pharla to show that the spirit of the Khalsa would never be broken. Under
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3822-632: The Deorhi of the Maharaja on elephants and horses, in perfect smartness and with great grace... Another contemporary observation of the corps was made by the Scottish traveler and explorer, Alexander Burne, in his travelogue: On our arrival, we found... a party of thirty or forty dancing girls, dressed uniformly in boys’ clothes. They were mostly natives of Cashmere or the adjacent mountains... (and) their figures and features were small, and their Don Giovanni costume of flowing silk most becoming, improved as it
3913-569: The Five Rivers'. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca ( पञ्च ), Greek pénte ( πέντε ), and Lithuanian Penki , all of which meaning 'five'; āb is cognate with Sanskrit áp ( अप् ) and with the Av- of Avon . The historical Punjab region , now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries . One of
4004-503: The Guru Granth Sahib, Aad Guru Granth Sahib . They also sometimes refer to the scriptures as "Durbar", such as Aad Guru Durbar . The Sarbloh Granth has another name, as Sri Manglacharan Purana . They believe that all three of these scriptures are authentic, written by the Gurus and are one and the same. For this reason, they will often place the Dasam and Aad Granths on the same level and on
4095-467: The Muslim soldiers who fired upon them. The Sikh Nihangs shot off many musket and matchlock volleys rather than a sword charge. It resulted in the death of many of Metcalfe's escorts, while others were wounded. Although more of Metcalfe's soldiers died, Ranjit Singh became particularly fascinated by the Muslim guards. This impressed Ranjit Singh and left a deep impact on him, as the Nihangs had quickly adopted
4186-754: The Sikh flags had the inscription of the motto of the Khalsa: " Deg Tegh Fateh ", in Persian Nastaʿlīq script . After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Empire witnessed the murders of Ranjit Singh's sons, one after another, organised by the Dogras. Then the Dogras urged the army to make the Lahore Durbar declare war on the East India Company. They did so, and the Dogra-led Sikh Army was betrayed by its commanders who revealed battle plans to
4277-463: The United Kingdom in 2011, 280,000 in the United States and smaller numbers in other countries. Standard Punjabi (sometimes referred to as Majhi) is the standard form of Punjabi used commonly in education and news broadcasting , and is based on the Majhi dialect . Such as the variety used on Google Translate , Standard Punjabi is also often used in official online services that employ Punjabi. It
4368-570: The United States found no evidence of a separate falling tone following a medial consonant. It is considered that these tones arose when voiced aspirated consonants ( gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh ) lost their aspiration. In Punjabi, tone is induced by the loss of [h] in tonal consonants. Tonal consonants are any voiced aspirates /ʱ/ and the voiced glottal fricative /ɦ/ . These include the five voiced aspirated plosives bh , dh , ḍh , jh and gh (which are represented by their own letters in Gurmukhi),
4459-416: The amazonians of the Sikh court were described as follows: Their uniform was as follows: a lemon yellow Banarsi turban with a bejewelled crest; a dark green jumper over a blue satin gown, fastened with a gold belt; deep crimson skin tight pyjamas of Gulbadan; silk and a pair of golden shoes. As for jewellery, they wore a pair of gold earrings set with stones, a diamond nose stud, a pair of golden bracelets and
4550-716: The armies in Punjab consisted purely of cavalry. After Ranjit Singh became the Sardar of Sukerchakia Misl he gradually unified most of the Punjab through conquests and diplomacy. However the Afghans, the British and the Gurkhas remained a threat while his empire was in its infancy. Therefore, in 1805, he began recruiting regular forces and employing deserters from the East India Company as officers or soldiers. This latter tactic did not work particularly well because most of
4641-489: The battlefield, the Nihang once formed the irregular guerrilla squads of the armed forces of the Sikh Empire , the Sikh Khalsa Army . The word Akali/akaali means timeless or immortal. Literally, one who belongs to Akaal (beyond Time). In other words, an Akaali is that person who is subject of none but God only. Conceptually speaking, the terms Akaali, Khalsa and Sikh are synonymous. The term Akaali
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#17327656004134732-556: The broader Indo-European language family in its usage of lexical tone . The word Punjabi (sometimes spelled Panjabi ) has been derived from the word Panj-āb , Persian for 'Five Waters', referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River . The name of the region was introduced by the Turko-Persian conquerors of South Asia and was a translation of the Sanskrit name, Panchanada , which means 'Land of
4823-470: The dark blue colour for their clothing, which they adopted to emulate Guru Gobind Singh's attire when he escaped from Chamkaur through the Machhiwara jungle. The Nihang were particularly known for their high turbans ( dastar bunga ) and their extensive use of the chakram or war-quoit. Their turbans were often pointed at the top and outfitted with a chand torra or trident called astbhuja which could be used for stabbing in close-quarters. Other times,
4914-469: The dastar Bunga was a Surmayee or navy chola with a yellow hazooria and kamar kasa. Under the Kamar Kasa (a cotton belt) should be two Kirpans, a khanda and other daggers. One Kirpan should be Nagini and one straight. All Nihangs had horses on which there would be a Nishan Sahib, long Musket, a Karpa Barcha and a Nagni Barcha. The Nishan Sahib should be pointed up resembling victory and should have an Ashtabhuja Dhuja on top. This class of Nihangs always came at
5005-402: The deserters were constantly in touch with the British. The British were alarmed with the rapid conquests of Ranjit Singh and sent many diplomatic missions to help the Phulkian sardars from a possible conquest of their lands and to check the growing power of the Sikh sovereign. The Sikhs under Maharaja Ranjit Singh had already defeated the British while they first tried to lay claim to Delhi for
5096-688: The devoicing of the main five tonal consonants ( bh , dh , ḍh , jh , gh ). The Gurmukhi script which was developed in the 16th century has separate letters for voiced aspirated sounds, so it is thought that the change in pronunciation of the consonants and development of tones may have taken place since that time. Some other languages in Pakistan have also been found to have tonal distinctions, including Burushaski , Gujari , Hindko , Kalami , Shina , and Torwali , though these (besides Hindko) seem to be independent of Punjabi. Nihang The Nihang (also spelt as Nihung lit. "Crocodiles") or Akali (lit. "Immortals"), also known as Dal Khalsa ,
5187-415: The eleventh-most widely spoken in India , and also present in the Punjabi diaspora in various countries. Approximate distribution of native Punjabi speakers (inc. Lahndic dialects ) (assuming a rounded total of 157 million) worldwide. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan , being the native language of 88.9 million people, or approximately 37% of the country's population. Beginning with
5278-447: The empire. The Nihangs had the Blue Flag, while different regiments of the army from different religions were allowed to have banners of their own. The regular regiments of different Sikh sardars had mostly blue-coloured flags and banners. The infantry regiments had flags with depictions of plants and cavalry regiments had depictions of horses on their flags. The Fauj-i-Khas had its own French tricolore flag with Waheguru on it. Most of
5369-420: The examples below are based on those provided in Punjabi University, Patiala 's Punjabi-English Dictionary . Level tone is found in about 75% of words and is described by some as absence of tone. There are also some words which are said to have rising tone in the first syllable and falling in the second. (Some writers describe this as a fourth tone.) However, a recent acoustic study of six Punjabi speakers in
5460-418: The far-north of Rajasthan and on the northwestern border of Haryana . It includes the dialects of Majhi , Malwai , Doabi , Puadhi and the extinct Lubanki . Sometimes, Dogri and Kangri are grouped into this category. "Western Punjabi" or "Lahnda" ( لہندا , lit. ' western ' ) is the name given to the diverse group of Punjabi varieties spoken in the majority of Pakistani Punjab ,
5551-427: The first time, states Rattan Singh Bhangu. A Muslim regiment under Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe was sent to Amritsar for talks with the Maharaja. The soldiers created noise through their chants as they approached Ranjit Singh's fort in Amritsar and passed near the Golden Temple and caused an irregular detachment of Nihang guards to inquire about the disturbances during prayer, before they were challenged by
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#17327656004135642-506: The five, the Beas River , is a tributary of another, the Sutlej . Punjabi developed from Prakrit languages and later Apabhraṃśa ( Sanskrit : अपभ्रंश , 'deviated' or 'non-grammatical speech') From 600 BC, Sanskrit developed as the standard literary and administrative language and Prakrit languages evolved into many regional languages in different parts of India. All these languages are called Prakrit languages (Sanskrit: प्राकृत , prākṛta ) collectively. Paishachi Prakrit
5733-463: The infantry in large numbers. In 1822 Ranjit Singh employed a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, General Jean-Baptiste Ventura to train the infantry in European style. In a few years, under his command, the infantry was modernized in French pattern. Similarly, in 1822, Ranjit Singh employed another French Napoleonic War veteran, General Jean-François Allard to modernize the Sikh cavalry. In 1827 Claude Auguste Court , and in 1832 Colonel Alexander Gardner
5824-400: The infantry in western pattern. Under his guidance, within a few years, the infantry became the most disciplined unit of the Sikh army. By 1838-1839 the strength of the infantry had risen to 45,000. It was divided into battalions , companies and sections . Each battalion consisted of 800 soldiers. It was put under a Commandant . Each battalion was divided into eight companies. Each company
5915-465: The jathedars today. The Akali Nihangs even used to fight with the other armed soldiers of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Other parts of the Irregulars consisted of the Akalis, also known as Nihangs . They were devout Sikhs, heavily armed with many traditional weapons and refused European style training. They only wore blue or yellow robes. Their leaders were Akali Phula Singh and Akali Sadhu Singh. Unlike today's Nihang sects and Jathas earlier all Nihangs were in
6006-519: The latter three arise natively. Later, the letters ਜ਼ / ز , ਸ਼ / ش and ਫ਼ / ف began being used in English borrowings, with ਸ਼ / ش also used in Sanskrit borrowings . Punjabi has also had minor influence from and on neighbouring languages such as Sindhi , Haryanvi , Pashto and Hindustani . Note: In more formal contexts, hypercorrect Sanskritized versions of these words (ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ pradhān for ਪਰਧਾਨ pardhān and ਪਰਿਵਾਰ parivār for ਪਰਵਾਰ parvār ) may be used. Modern Punjabi emerged in
6097-418: The line formations of Metcalfe's escorts, dominating the entire Muslim battalion. The Maharaja then accepted the Treaty of Amritsar (1809), and saw the British as allies for the moment as he took the British refusal to engage after the assault on Metcalfe's convoy as well as the Sikh army's frequent unanswered incursions and attacks south of the Sutlej on British army officers in Ludhiana as signs of weakness on
6188-545: The most rarely pronounced. The retroflex lateral is most commonly analysed as an approximant as opposed to a flap . Some speakers soften the voiceless aspirates /t͡ʃʰ, pʰ, kʰ/ into fricatives /ɕ, f, x/ respectively. In rare cases, the /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ phonemes in Shahmukhi may be represented with letters from Sindhi . The /ɲ/ phoneme, which is more common than /ŋ/, is written as نی or نج depending on its phonetic preservation, e.g. نیاݨا /ɲaːɳaː/ (preserved ñ ) as opposed to کنج /kiɲd͡ʒ/ (assimilated into nj ). /ŋ/
6279-444: The original Nishan Sahib, being navy/electric blue, and (sometimes) bright yellow or basanti with a tegha , dhal (shield) and katar . Yellow in Punjabi culture signifies sacrifice, revolt and honour while blue signifies courage, bravery and patriotism. In Punjab, Blue is the colour of Khalsa, and yellow the colour of Kshatriyas. Due to various passages from the Dasam Granth, the Nihangs see themselves as Kshatriyas , but believe that
6370-473: The part of the British. The regular military force was backed up and supported by a further 52,000 well-trained and equipped professional-grade irregulars, known as Fauj-i-Be Qawaid. In addition, a large reservoir of feudal and militia forces was available. Military jagirs were given to the ex-rulers of Misls . They in turn had to give tax to the state or a significant number of soldiers, known as Jagirdari Fauj. It consisted mostly of cavalry and infantry. It
6461-411: The past between different groups of Akalis , even within the same faction. Some Nihang groups consume cannabis or shaheedi degh ( ਭੰਗ ), purportedly to help in meditation . Sūkha parshaad ( ਸੁੱਖਾ ਪ੍ਰਰਸਾਦ ), "Dry-sweet", is the term Nihang use to refer to it. It was traditionally crushed and taken as a liquid, especially during festivals like Hola Mohalla . It is never smoked, as this practice
6552-521: The same throne (also known as the palki ). They also sometimes do this for the Sarbloh Granth as well. The Nihangs have developed their own coded language, known as Khalsa bole . In September 2023, a depiction of a Nihang Sikh was painted on the top-right section of an official illustration of the Dallas Cowboys football team as part of the Carpe Omnia ('seize everything') theme for
6643-412: The shoulders was a yellow hazooria. They also carried a Katar tucked in their Kamar-Kasa with two Kirpans , a Khanda , a Jamdhardh and a Toradar Matchlock. They held a Nagni Barcha on their back in a holder. Most of them were cavalry while some were archers and infantry Throughout 1805, Ranjit Singh recruited many East India Company deserters in his army. The early results were unimpressive. During
6734-465: The staffing to emphasize steady fire over cavalry and guerrilla warfare, improved the equipment and methods of war. The military system of Ranjit Singh combined the best of both old and new ideas. He strengthened the infantry and the artillery. He paid the members of the standing army from treasury, instead of the Mughal method of paying an army with local feudal levies. Before the reign of Ranjit Singh ,
6825-539: The terms Eastern and Western Punjabi can simply refer to all the Punjabi varieties spoken in India and Pakistan respectively, whether or not they are linguistically Eastern/Western. While a vowel length distinction between short and long vowels exists, reflected in modern Gurmukhi orthographical conventions, it is secondary to the vowel quality contrast between centralised vowels /ɪ ə ʊ/ and peripheral vowels /iː eː ɛː aː ɔː oː uː/ in terms of phonetic significance. The peripheral vowels have nasal analogues . There
6916-777: The terms of the treaty. This led to the Second Anglo-Sikh War , in which the Sikhs won many battles, but finally lost the Battle of Gujrat . On 10 March 1848 Sikh leaders Chattar Singh Attariwalla and Sher Singh Attariwalla eventually surrendered near Rawalpindi . On 14 March 1849, the Sikh Army surrendered to the East India Company. Many soldiers, while laying their weapons down, started crying and saying "Aj Ranjit Singh mar Gaya" (literally "Today Ranjit Singh has died"). However, many Sikh Army soldiers entered into service
7007-428: The tip, they clad themselves in yellow kurtas and grey pajamas . Ranjit Singh was fully aware of the importance of artillery in the modern warfare. Therefore, he paid a special attention to the development of artillery in 1810. In 1812 he employed General Claude Auguste Court and Colonel Alexander Gardner in 1832 and organized Topkhana-i-Khas. Under their able guidance the artillery made matchless progress in
7098-411: The turbans would be armed with a bagh naka (iron claw) and one or several chakram to slice at an opponent's eyes. These steel-reinforced turbans, it was said, afforded enough protection so that there was no need for any other form of headgear. Today, Nihang still wear miniature versions of five weapons ( pancha shastra ) in their turbans, namely the chakram , the khanda (sword) , the karud (dagger),
7189-468: The visit of Charles Metcalfe, he was shown a band of soldiers, most of them wearing traditional kurtas and colourful turbans , while others wore European infantry ornaments. They had either traditional matchlock or European muskets. Previously, as the Sikhs refused to join infantry service, Pashtuns , Pakhtuns and Gurkhas served in this sector of the army. However, with the passage of time and owing to Ranjit Singh 's efforts, Sikhs too began to join
7280-534: The weapon he held, often a bow ( kamaan ) or spear ( barcha ). Armour consisted of sanjo or iron chainmail worn under an iron breastplate ( char aina ). Nihang war-shoes ( jangi mozeh ) were constructed of iron at the toe, making their pointed toes capable of inflicting cuts and stab wounds. The firearms carried by nihangs are either a toradar (matchlock) or a musket . In modern times nihangs also carry revolvers , semi-automatic pistols , double-barreled shotguns and bolt-action rifles The Nihangs favour
7371-514: Was lexically influenced by Portuguese (words like almārī ), Greek (words like dām ), Japanese (words like rikśā ), Chinese (words like cāh , līcī , lukāṭh ) and English (words like jajj , apīl , māsṭar ), though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. In fact, the sounds / z / (ਜ਼ / ز ژ ذ ض ظ ), / ɣ / (ਗ਼ / غ ), / q / (ਕ਼ / ق ), / ʃ / (ਸ਼ / ش ), / x / (ਖ਼ / خ ) and / f / (ਫ਼ / ف ) are all borrowed from Persian, but in some instances
7462-405: Was by a small bow and quiver in the hand of each. ‘This,’ said Runjeet Sing, ‘is one of my regiments (pultuns), but they tell me it is one I cannot discipline’—a remark which amused us, and mightily pleased the fair. The amazons may have served as a mock bodyguard troupe for the Sikh ruler. They were feared and respected. The commander of the amazonian corps was a singer named Billo. The uniform of
7553-428: Was divided into regiments . Each regiment consisted of 250 to 600 cavaliers. The regiments were further divided into risalas (corps). Each Risala consisted of 150 to 250 cavaliers . The officers and other non-combatants of cavalry were similar to those of infantry. The pay of the cavalry was, however, higher than that of the infantry. The men in this division had a sort of helmet-turban with igret feathers coming out from
7644-417: Was employed to modernise the artillery. Ranjit Singh wanted to westernise his army. The military system that he had inherited from his forefathers also served him well. The military system of the Sikh Empire under Ranjit Singh finally evolved as a compromise between the old and the new. Thus, the military system of the Sikh Empire is termed as a Franco-British system in the Indian subcontinent . Ranjit Singh
7735-459: Was first used during the time of Guru Gobind Singh Sahib . It became popular in the last decades of the eighteenth century. The term came to be associated with “commitment, fearlessness, boldness, struggle, and justice.” The word Nihang may come from the Persian word for a mythical sea creature ( Persian : نهنگ ). The term owes its origin to Mughal historians, who compared the ferocity of
7826-587: Was fully aware of the importance of infantry. The task of recruitment in this section of the army had started after 1805, and continued throughout his reign. In the beginning, the number of Sikhs enrolled in the infantry was nominal. The reason being that the Sikhs looked down upon infantry. Therefore, in the beginning, Ranjit Singh recruited Pathans and Dogras in this section of his army. Afterwards, owing to Ranjit Singh's efforts, Sikhs too began to join it. In 1822, he employed General Jean-Baptiste Ventura to train
7917-477: Was in the Sher-Dil-Rajman Regiment. Gunners wore white trousers and black waistcoats with crossbelts. Officers were not bound by rules of uniform. They used distinctive dress of bright coloured silks each picking his own as he saw fit. There existed an amazonian corps composed of women, named after the ancient Greek legend of a nation of fighting women by visiting European officials. There
8008-700: Was of the best kind. The Fauj-i-Khas was supplied with the best available ammunition and they were very loyal to Ranjit Singh , whom they usually escorted. The banner was of a French style and usually had its tricolor with 'Waheguru' inscribed on it. Infantry was clad in scarlet jacket/coat, white trousers with black belts and pouches. Different regiments were distinguished by the colour of their headdress white, red, green or yellow. The Gurkhas had green jackets and black caps. Postins (furcoats), or padded jackets were used during winter. Pathans and Mazhabis were directly sent to this force. Cavalrymen were dressed in red jackets (French grey for lancers ), long blue trousers with
8099-402: Was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Paishachi Prakrit gave rise to Paishachi Apabhraṃśa , a descendant of Prakrit. Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century AD and became stable by the 10th century. The earliest writings in Punjabi belong to
8190-422: Was put under a Subedar . Each company was divided into 4 sections. Each section consisted of 25 soldiers. It was put under a Jamadar . The second most important division of the army was cavalry. In order to organize it on western lines, Ranjit Singh appointed General Jean-Francois Allard . Under his command, the cavalry became very strong. In 1838–39, the overall strength of the cavalry was 10,000. The cavalry
8281-641: Was the weakest part of the army. Another part of the Irregular force were the Ghorcharas. Ghorcharas were the relatives of the nobles of the Sikh Empire and the police of the forts. They also refused any type of training and usually taunted the Europeans. The Ghorcharas or the irregular cavalry had no uniform laid down for them; yet they turned out sharply, as testified by Baron Hugel, a Prussian noble, who visited Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1836 and inspected
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